'Progress' crowds out baseball's inherent simplicity

They're trying to speed up the game of baseball, but sooner or later they'll find out that is simply not possible. The game was always meant to be contested at a slow pace on a sultry afternoon, when even the flies (not fly balls) are in no hurry.

Personally, I find there is something inherently pleasurable in the slowness of play; a reminder perhaps of simpler times and an uncomplicated lifestyle.

When civility was expected and violence was viewed almost exclusively at ringside. Boxing was, after all, the most popular sport of the day. And guns were limited to law enforcement and weekend hunters and the scourge of street drugs was decades away.

When politicians were seen but rarely heard (except every four years) and scandals were as rare as triple plays.

And attending baseball games was even more popular than Saturday matinees at the local movie house, even when prizes were handed out during intermission.

Ah, but who am I fooling? Those days are long gone and in its place we are left with complex algorithms that predetermine our every move.

I'm sure I am as outdated as leather-bound books in thinking that baseball will forever be free of robotic umpires and computer-generated lineup cards.

But thankfully I'll be long gone by then, along with the traditional hawking of hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy.

Bob Ory

Elgin